WASHINGTON— In the State of the Union speech tonight, President Barack Obama pledged to dramatically ramp up offshore drilling that has already been shown to be dangerous to people, wildlife and the environment. Obama promised to open 75 percent of the nation’s “potential” offshore oil and gas reserves to drilling.

“Expanding offshore oil drilling raises the risk of disastrous spills, puts wildlife in harm’s way and solidifies U.S. dependence on the fossil fuels that are driving the global climate crisis,” Suckling said.